BANGLADESHI PEACEKEEPERS HELP BRING PEACE AND SENSE OF NORMALCY TO WAR AFFECTED CIVILIANS IN SOUTH SUDAN

DHAKA, Nov. 5 (NsNewWire) — In late October, a unit of Bangladeshi peacekeepers spearheaded an integrated UN patrol in the northwestern part of South Sudan to assess the situation on the ground and to talk to civilians who had been affected by conflict in the region.

The Bangladeshi peacekeepers were joined on the patrol by other members of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), including a Chinese Engineering Company, as well as civilian personnel from the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS).

The patrol, which lasted five days, was the first of its kind since June, as roads have been impassable over the past five months due to the heavy rainy season.

“What I want is peace;” a South Sudanese primary school teacher in the village of Sopo told the Bangladeshi patrol commander about the feelings of people in the area where fighting broke out in April 2016.

The patrol observed thousands of people displaced from the Raja area who are still sheltering in Deim Zubeir, a town about midway between Raja and Wau. They also report seeing other IDPs living in villages along the road.

Maj. Tavir Ahmed Tomal, the Bangladeshi unit commander said the patrol “was successful in assessing the road and security situation as well as building confidence amongst the civilian population.”

He said “the security situation is quite stable and we have not observed any uncertainty along the road. However, the people we met specifically children are malnourished and vulnerable to disease because of lack of food.”

The teacher told the peacekeeper that peace would be a priority to bring normalcy back to their life. That would include restoring basic social services such as medical care, education and maintaining the road infrastructure for communication.

Some heavy vehicles in the patrol could not cross a bridge at Sopo area some 60 kms from Raja, Maj. Tomal said, adding improving the road network needs to be a priority to reach people in dire need with humanitarian support.

The Bangladeshi medical team provided health care to 80 people during the two day stay in Sopo village.

UNMISS was established by the UN Security Council in 2011 and was mandated to protect civilians; to monitor and investigate human rights; to createthe conditions conducive to the delivery of humanitarian assistance: and to support the peace process.  Bangladesh currently provides more than 1,600 military and police personnel to the mission.